Issue No.81 May 2008

Editorial

The announcement of the results of the XIIth Class Board was reason enough to come out with an impromptu and truncated version of the Chronicle. I felt the glory of the boys and girls should not get diminished with dated news of the results, so I decided to give them their day in the limelight, for everybody to congratulate them. The dark clouds and unseasonal rains did not prove to be foreboding for our champions. Talking about rains it seems like the monsoon has changed gears and arrived at our doorstep a trifle early. The results, however, were on schedule and the Yamuna kids came out with flying colours. Not much should however, be read of the results of students who wish to pursue professional courses. Their concentration is more on the entrance exams for various institutes, rather than the XIIth board. Nevertheless, they were not found wanting.


Sudha (H-104)
Commerce:89.5
Fine Arts: 98%

Ananya(H-105)
Commerce:86%

Pratap(F-103)
Science: 84%
PCM 88%

Vinitra (B-307)
Commerce:83%
Economics 95%

Prasad(B-201)
Science :82%

Rathnanjali(G-303)
Science:79%
PCM: 82%

Anybody who lives in Yamuna and commutes to work cannot be unaffected by the illogical planning of the BRT stretch. Seems like Bogotá has gifted the copyright of a bad idea to the Delhi government and the mandarins in the transport department fell for its fey charms hook, line and sinker. Obviously,Delhi is not Bogotá and Delhi has a higher vehicle population than the entire South American country of Columbia, of which Bogotá is the capital. It is not all bad news, though. The bus stands, signages, cycle tracks, pedestrian paths with grids for blind people to navigate, street lights are all very contemporary and impressive. However, for the person who is eager to return home from work, cooped up in the claustrophobic confines of a car and breathing in pure carbon dioxide, this is cold comfort.

Sreesanth to me always seems to be in the eye of the public. Sreesanth’s batting prowess may be limited, but his cocky obliviousness to his ineptitude in batting is endlessly fascinating, like the time he twirled his bat in front of Andre Nel’s face in South Africa after hoisting him for a six and the swagger after carting Pieterson over mid-wicket in the Oval Test. But nothing could quite prepare me for the incident in the IPL series. Upon receiving a smacker on the face from Harbhajan he was reduced to a whimpering puppy. Where did the bravado go? I guess such people have never been at the receiving end. I have reasonable cause to believe that Sreesanth will be a changed man after this incident.

Fatal accidents are on the rise in Delhi. It is hardly surprising that Delhi’s official way to sow wild oats is to get tanked and press pedal to lay rubber on metal. If the cops did their job every night, thousands of tipsters would have to be incarcerated. Tihar Jail would have to enlist DLF to build multi-storeyed prison cells to house them. However, more often than not the cop would let you off in exchange for a gratuity. After all human life is so cheap in this country. First World countries refuse to accept human losses because families in those countries have one or two children, all of whom are expected to survive and each of whom a embodies much higher share of the family’s emotional capital. They therefore enforce stringent laws and take effective preventive measures. Not so in India. Here, there will be more outcry on something unimportant and superficial as celebration of Valentine’s Day or IPL cheerleaders! Tragedies, such as fatal road accidents are considered occupational hazards.


OBITUARY
Mrs. Janaki Natarajan, mother in law of Mr. R. Shankaran breathed her last on
15th May, 2008 .

Ms. Thankam Sambasivam, Member, (D-201 expired during the early hours of
4th May, 2008, in Singapore .

Residents of Yamuna convey their heartfelt condolence to the
bereaved families.


SNIPPETS

The traffic of people moving in and out of Yamuna is not abating.The strains of not iving with wife, was showing on Ravi Chalam of A-205. After enduring a forced separation on account of their daughter Roshni’s Board exams, Bhooma and Ravi showed relief that they could finally move to Bangalore lock, stock and barrel, where Ravi has been employed for the past one year.


Another move in similar vein has been that of Sudha of A-001, who has moved with her daughter Smrithi, to Bangalore to join her husband Kumar who works there and the elder daughter Shruti who studies there. As a consequence, her sister Roopa, husband Srinivas, son Ram and daughter Risha are moving into A-001 from A-301. Now they do not have to trudge up three floors for their daily exercise.


Mr. Aditya Sheel, who is VP and National Head for HR & IR with Subiksha, has moved in with his family to C-008 from Mayur Vihar. He is fond of sports and very keen on unleashing his lethal smashes and deft placements on the badminton court but extensive travel leaves very little time to pursue his hobbies. His wife Tanuja takes care of the house. Their elder daughter, Devyani is into Fine Arts and is currently working as an Assistant Director for a British Documentary film. I am sure we can enlist her for the Annual Day variety entertainment programmes. Their younger daughter, Geetanjali, has just completed BA (Hons) from Hindu College. Both the daughters are fond of reading, music and like most girls, chatting! They can be reached on 26001900. We welcome them to the Yamuna family.

Letter to the Editor
Dear Sir,
Sub: Maintenance of Yamuna Apartments Complex

Reference is invited to the letter on the above subject that appeared in the April 2008 issue of Yamuna Chronicle. Following are the circumstances under which the managing committee of the Society decided to waive off one month’s maintenance charges for the year 2008-2009.

1. Every year during the month of March, the Society prepares the Annual Budget, as per statutory requirement, indicating the likely income and expenditure under various heads for the forthcoming financial year. The managing committee, at its monthly meetings, closely monitors the monthly income and expenditure. The actual position under various heads at the end of every year should, more or less, conform to the budget provisions made for the same.

2. The Society collects funds from the members/residents on the clear understanding that the funds will be utilized with utmost care on the activities indicated in the budget. The Society is authorized to collect only as much funds as are required to meet the expenses on different activities. If there is surplus of funds, after meeting all expenses, the balance amount should be refunded to the members/residents and if there is a deficit, the Society should seek further funding support from them.

3. The maintenance work undertaken during 2007-2008 is there for all to see. The actual expenditure on maintenance work on 2007-2008 was Rs.25, 000/- more than the budget provision for the same. Thus waiving off one month’s maintenance charges was not at the cost of maintenance work. Maintenance work is a continuous activity and the requests/suggestions received from office bearers, members and residents are taken into account while carrying out maintenance work.

4. The head under which there was a huge surplus of more than Rs.1 lakh in expenditure during 2007-2008 was “Water Charges”. The budget provision during 2007-2008 was based on the earlier year’s actual expenditure. DJB, for some reason, charged the Society a ‘flat rate’ (and not on the basis of actual consumption of water) for most part of the year promising to make the final settlement before 31 March 2008. The Society waited till 31 March 2008 for final settlement and, even by the evening of 31 March 2008, no supplementary bills were received even after constant follow up. Besides, the claim from insurance company was less by Rs.16, 000/- as compared to the budget provision (which was again based on the previous year’s actual expenditure.)

5. When the Society had collected certain amount from members/residents to be spent on water and insurance and, for some reason, it could not spend the entire amount, the balance amount had to be refunded to the members/residents since the Society is not authorized to divert the funds to other uses. This is not only a prudent action that the Society could have taken, but the only course open to it at the last minute.

6. Alternatively, the Society could have carried over the surplus to the next year, in which case the incidence of taxes such as Income Tax and Delhi Cooperative Education Cess would have been higher. Thus, from the point of view of Tax Planning also it was found advisable that the surplus be treated as advance payment from members/residents.

7. Though non-member residents may lack a formal forum to air their views, they are welcome to bring their problems/suggestions to the notice of the Society’s office. In fact, the residents bring a number of problems to the notice of the office, and a large part of maintenance work is being carried out at non-members’ requests. The office depends on the knowledge and professional experience of residents, particularly those who have held responsible high positions in their professional careers to improve the living conditions in the colony. Their help is being acknowledged in Yamuna Chronicle from time to time and in the Annual Report of the Society every year.

Thanking you,


Yours faithfully,
N. Parthasarathy
Secretary